Meg Whitman is running for the California governorship. Obviously, Whitman very much wants Californians to cast a vote for her this year. And then, apparently, she wants to stop Californians from casting a vote on much of anything else in the future. Repeatedly, the billionaire former CEO of eBay has attacked California's ballot initiative and referendum process. Last May, right after California voters clobbered a number of issues referred to the ballot by legislators, measures that would have raised taxes and played three card monte with parts of state spending, Whitman told an audience, "In many ways, the proposition process...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Super Bowl network CBS rejected an ad Friday from ManCrunch.com, a gay dating Web site. "After reviewing the ad, which is entirely commercial in nature, our standards and practices department decided not to accept this particular spot," said CBS spokeswoman Shannon Jacobs. "We are always open to working with a client on alternative submissions." "It's straight-up discrimination," said Elissa Buchter, spokeswoman for the Toronto-based dating site.

Scott Brown is showing up many places, just not the State of the Union speech. The Republican senator-elect says he doesn't plan to attend President Barack Obama's first speech on Wednesday because "I don't even have a business card yet." Brown says he wants to wrap up his work as a Massachusetts state senator and thank people who helped elect him last week to the Senate seat held by the late Edward Kennedy. He's also meeting with local leaders, Gov. Deval Patrick, Boston reporters, ABC-TV's Barbara Walters and doing a bit for Jay Leno's NBC comedy show. Brown says he'll...

2012 Presidential Poll For the first time in one of our monthly polls looking ahead to the 2012 Presidential election Barack Obama trails one of his hypothetical opponents, albeit by the smallest of margins. Mike Huckabee has a 45-44 advantage over Obama, aided largely by a 44-38 lead with independents. There continues to be no evidence of any negative fallout for Huckabee after murders of police officers committed by an ex-Arkansas inmate whose sentence he had commuted. His 35/29 favorability breakdown is actually slightly better than it was in November before that incident. Mitt Romney does the next best, trailing...

In the weeks leading up to the long-awaited March primary, voters all over Texas will see this headline on the state’s most important magazine: “Perry for President?!?” And so we begin this week with the Texas Monthly cover story that, as it hit the Web over the weekend, quickly turned heads around the country. Never mind Gov. Rick Perry’s upcoming primary challenge from U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or, if he survives that, a general election challenge from a Democrat (likely Bill White). Paul Burka argues, with considerable evidence, that the governor is well-positioned to rise to the top...

Southern California Republicans are uneasy with the “middle of the road” strategy adopted by former eBay CEO Meg Whitman (R) in the race to succeed California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R). “We’ve seen that before. Case and point would be [Richard] Riordan’s strategy when he ran for governor,” said John Cozza, vice chairman of the Republican Party of Los Angeles County. A moderate Republican who served as mayor of Los Angeles, Riordan touted his business acumen during the 2002 gubernatorial Republican primary but lost to conservative Bill Simon. Riordan "ignored the base and focused on a general election strategy and we...

Nebraska’s Republican governor has a stern message for Ben Nelson, the senior Democratic senator from his state: We don’t want Washington to cover all the costs of the proposed expansion of Medicaid under health care legislation. “The last few days have made Nebraskans so angry that now it’s a matter of principle,” Gov. David Heineman told POLITICO. “The federal government can keep that money

Google is closing in on a beta for the Mac version of its Chrome browser, according to a list of still-to-be-addressed issues. Just eight bugs are holding up the release of Chrome for the Mac, Google's bug tracking database showed Monday morning. Of the eight, only two are marked as Priority 1: Both involve crashes when the browser tries to render content for Adobe's Flash media format. Three weeks ago, a product manager on the Chrome team said that Google would deliver a beta for the Mac in early December.

WASHINGTON, D.C., November 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - President Obama's brief proclamation of Thanksgiving Day on November 26 was unique among all recorded Thanksgiving proclamations by his predecessors: it is the first one that fails to directly acknowledge the existence of God. The beneficence shown by God to America is a theme that traditionally defines the Thanksgiving holiday, and this theme is strongly emphasized in the original Thanksgiving Day proclamations and consistently acknowledged even by modern presidents. Obama's unprecedented proclamation, however, only makes indirect mention of God by quoting George Washington, stating: "Today, we recall President George Washington, who proclaimed our...

Newt Gingrich appeared on talk shows this Sunday and flirted with the idea of a 2012 presidential bid. In a glaring example of just how wide the schism between Republican Party moderates and conservatives has become, pundits on the right were quick to shoot Gingrich down. The man who led the GOP to a 1994 revival is now dismissed being by some on the right as a RINO -- Republican In Name Only. Why? In a contentious New York State Congressional race that has split the Republican Party at the national level, Gingrich irked conservatives by endorsing moderate Dede Scozzafava,...

2012 peek at Pawlenty's PAC fundraiserJonathan Martin – Fri Oct 23, 12:26 am ET Hundreds of mostly young Republicans gathered Thursday night at a Washington brewpub to lend their support to, size up or just catch a glimpse of Minnesota Gov. and 2012 prospect Tim Pawlenty. Over beers and pretzels, the committed and the curious saw what amounted to an informal debut in the capital for the potential presidential candidate. The fundraiser was ostensibly to support the PAC Pawlenty opened earlier this month, yet for the after-work crowd of Republicans strolling around the terrace of the Capital City Brewing Company...

Two weeks before Sarah Palin's memoir hits bookstores next month, possible 2012 presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee is publishing a new volume of his own: A Simple Christmas: Twelve Stories That Celebrate the True Holiday Spirit. Huckabee's already taking presale orders—and orders for leather display boxes and for signed, numbered versions of the book that include certificates of authenticity.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) has enlisted a number of GOP strategists from John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, another sign that he’s planning a run for president in 2012. Pawlenty has snagged a stable of well-known Republicans to help host his first fundraiser for the Freedom First PAC, his new political action committee, according to an invitation to the kickoff event in Washington obtained by The Hill. ---SNIP--- “Lots of folks want to learn more about how Gov. Pawlenty successfully governed as a conservative in a traditionally liberal-leaning state,” said Alex Conant, Pawlenty’s spokesman. “His innovative, conservative leadership is drawing...

Band asks Fox News talking head to retract endorsement. British prog rockers Muse have made no secret of their desire to conquer America with their bombastic fifth album, The Resistance. From their over-the-top VMA performance to multiple magazine covers and countless interviews, the band has put the full-court press on to woo U.S. fans. But that doesn't mean they're willing to accept all comers. Take, for example, frequently weepy, left-wing-conspiracy-touting Fox News talking head Glenn Beck. It seems the man who earlier this year referred to President Obama as a "racist" is a huge Muse fan. Beck tweeted his love...

Carly Fiorina is emerging as a potential GOP challenger for the US Senate seat of Bay Area liberal Barbara Boxer next year, and the prospect has energized the California Republican Party. Not yet an official candidate, Ms. Fiorina is the former CEO of Hewlett Packard (HP) and was an economic adviser to Sen. John McCain’s presidential bid last year. Like Meg Whitman, who just announced her campaign for governor, Fiorina is a newcomer to politics with very deep pockets. She has registered a campaign committee that reportedly had a strong presence at the state GOP convention this past weekend in...

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is preparing to launch a national fundraising committee, another signal the Republican may be positioning himself for a possible 2012 presidential run. The 'Freedom First' political action committee will be formalized in the next few weeks, Pawlenty adviser Alex Conant said Tuesday. He described it as a logical step for the governor, who has been giving speeches and campaigning for Republicans around the country. While forming such committees is a typical step for politicians who aspire to higher office, Pawlenty downplayed any link between his new PAC and a 2012 presidential...

Boeing Co. workers in North Charleston voted overwhelmingly to disband their union in a move that could give the region an edge in landing an aircraft plant the company is looking to build. Of the 267 ballots cast, 199 were in favor of decertifying the election that made them members of the International Association of Machinists. The company was pleased; the union was disappointed. The local plant makes rear fuselage sections for Boeing's 787, a new fast-selling lightweight jet that has been delayed by snags with suppliers and an eight-week strike last year by the IAM. Boeing has said it...

School districts across Texas are pondering whether they'll have their students watch a national address by President Barack Obama next week. The speech on the importance of education is aimed directly at the nation's school children at 11 a.m. Tuesday. Obama has asked school districts to carry the live webcast. Districts in North Texas have received complaints about the speech, and most are not broadcasting it to their students. "There appears to be a curriculum associated with the speech," said Fred Moses, chairman of the Collin County Republican Party. Parent Bobby Lochner said he wouldn't mind his children hearing a...

Angry parents get schools to shun Obama speech to students Dublin, Hilliard, Olentangy districts decide not to show president's TV address Tuesday Thursday, September 3, 2009 11:22 PM By Bill Bush THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH School districts across central Ohio learned today that the list of things parents want their children protected from -- drugs, predators, violence -- now includes the president of the United States delivering a "stay in school" message. Faced with phone calls from angry parents who don't want their children to view the Tuesday address to the nation's students by President Barack Obama, several districts have decided...

President Obama's televised primetime addresses are becoming a tougher sell to the broadcast networks than his sweeping health care reform has been to Middle America. A day after news broke of the president's plan to address a joint session of Congress on health care issues in primetime Wednesday, none of the Big Four networks have said it would carry the address live. Among other things, the nets have been waiting to hear when the address will start, with sources indicating Thursday night that the White House was leaning toward 8 p.m. After a brief honeymoon after Obama's January inauguration, the...

Some of my best friends are gay. Suspiciously large numbers, it has sometimes been suggested to me. But that’s OK, I’m cool with that. What my friends get up to in the privacy of their own homes - or, indeed, the scary back room of their local boite - is very much their own affair. And if they want to get married (Hell-ooo! Why sacrifice the single greatest benefit of being gay?), well I’m probably OK with that too. I don’t believe that homosexuality is a lifestyle choice so I guess it’s only fair that gay men and women too...

Lutheran ministers who are in same-sex relationships will not be allowed to serve as clergy in United Methodist congregations despite the new full communion agreement between the two denominations. Bishop Gregory Palmer, president of the United Methodist Council of Bishops, made clear on Wednesday that UMC's ban on noncelibate gay clergy still stands. "Our Book of Discipline on that subject did not become null and void when they took that vote," said Palmer, according to the United Methodist News Service. "It still applies to United Methodist clergy." Palmer was referring to the highly publicized vote last week by the chief...

Thirty-five percent (35%) of American voters say passage of the bill currently working its way through Congress would be better than not passing any health care reform legislation this year. However, a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that most voters (54%) say no health care reform passed by Congress this year would be the better option. This does not mean that most voters are opposed to health care reform. But it does highlight the level of concern about the specific proposals that Congressional Democrats have approved in a series of Committees. To this point, there has been no...

The Democratic National Committee released a web video yesterday entitled "Enough of the Mob," which suggests that Republicans and their allies are "organizing angry mobs" to "destroy President Obama and stop the change Americans voted for." The video concludes by asking supporters to call the Republican Party and "tell them you've had enough of the mob." The phone number of the Republican National Committee then appears onscreen. Those who call the number are told to press one if they are calling in regard to the DNC video. When they do, they are told to call a different phone number "to...

The GOP's 2008 presidential nominee, John McCain, announced Monday that he will vote against Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court. McCain, who wanted to be the one doing the nominating, said he could not support "activist judges" in outlining his opposition in a Senate floor speech. "I cannot support activist judges that seek to legislate from the bench," McCain said. "I have not supported such nominees in the past, and I cannot support such a nominee to the highest court in the land."

OVER much of the last four decades, John A. Allison IV built BB&T from a local bank in North Carolina into a regional powerhouse that has weathered the economic crisis far better than many of its troubled rivals — largely by avoiding financial gimmickry. And in his spare time, Mr. Allison travels the country making speeches about his bank’s distinctive philosophy.

Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather called on President Barack Obama to form a White House commission to help save the press Tuesday night in an impassioned speech at the Aspen Institute. “I personally encourage the president to establish a White House commission on public media,” the legendary newsman said. Such a commission on media reform, Rather said, ought to make recommendations on saving journalism jobs and creating new business models to keep news organizations alive. “A truly free and independent press is the red beating heart of democracy and freedom,” Rather said in an interview yesterday afternoon. “This is...

The financial sector has just delivered a message to California, roughly translated as, “Quit working on cow tails and apologies to long-dead people.” A group of the largest banks in the US has announced that it will stop accepting California IOUs by Friday. The state will run out of cash by the end of the month if it cannot issue IOUs, as long as its $24 billion budget gap remains unresolved: A group of the biggest U.S. banks said they would stop accepting California’s IOUs on Friday, adding pressure on the state to close its $26.3 billion annual budget gap....

British banks and stockbrokers may refuse to take on American clients if new international tax proposals outlined by President Obama are passed. By Louise Armitstead Last Updated: 12:02AM BST 24 May 2009 The decision, which would make it hard for Americans in London to open bank accounts and trade shares, is being discussed by executives at Britain's banks and brokers who say it could become too expensive to service American clients. The proposals, which were unveiled as part of the president's first budget, are designed to clamp-down on American tax evaders abroad. However bank bosses say they are being asked...

New Hampshire lawmakers unexpectedly rejected a bill on Wednesday that would have made the state the sixth in the United States to authorize gay marriage. The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives voted down the bill in a 188-186 vote, hours after its Senate approved the legislation 14-10 along party lines. An earlier version of the bill passed the state's House of Representatives on March 26. Both chambers had been asked to approve language that would give religious institutions opposed to gay marriage legal protections, including the right to decline to marry same-sex couples. That wording was added by Governor John Lynch,...

The Republican Party suffered a major blow on Thursday when Tom Ridge, the former Pennsylvania governor and Secretary of Homeland Security, announced that he will not run for the U.S. Senate in 2010. “After careful consideration and many conversations with friends and family and the leadership of my party, I have decided not to seek the Republican nomination for Senate," said Ridge in a written statement. Ridge's decision not to run is a boon to Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa. The longtime moderate Republican senator switched parties on April 28 to avoid a tough GOP primary challenge from former Rep. Pat...

The Fox Network is making a smart business move by passing on tonight's press conference celebrating President Obama's first 100 days in office. Other networks are losing millions of dollars of advertising revenue to air what amounts to an unpaid political ad.

The turning point for Stephan Jung came in February, around the time bonus checks were slashed. A veteran of UBS, one of many banks tarnished by the financial crisis, Mr. Jung realized that the old Wall Street would not be bouncing back any time soon. It was time to head for the new. “After 10 years, I did not see a future for myself,” said Mr. Jung, 42, who quit to parlay his sales expertise into a career at Aladdin Capital, a small but rising investment firm run by others who had also left some of the most venerable names...

From Sacramento -- Tom Campbell is a rarity. He's a politician who carefully thinks through contentious issues and takes positions based on his notion of good government. Good politics seem to be a low priority, if one at all. Not that all politicians are finger-to-the-wind opportunists. Each varies by degree between being a policy wonk and political survivalist. But Democrats tend to genuflect to labor, particularly public employee unions. Republicans tend to cower before the anti-tax crowd, to name one. Campbell is practically all wonk. And he must have missed the memo to rookie politicians about going along to get...

Is Mitt Romney the new boss of the GOP? I know Michael Steel is the chairman. I know that Palin still enjoys a high degree of popularity among conservatives. I'm aware that Governor Jindal of Louisiana seems to have a huge upside and promising future. But, Mitt Romney seems to possess something -- call it competence, his success, demeanor or his presidential tone and image -- it is either one of those things, or perhaps all of them, that give him a unique standing in the GOP. Already setting the tone for 2012, back in February Mitt Romney won the...

KTVA reports: Governor Sarah Palin announced that she is proposing a bill that will allow the state to accept only 55-percent of federal recovery funds. Palin gave several examples that underlined her reasoning for wanting to reject the funds. In total, if the bill were passed, $515-million of the almost $1-billion would be rejected by the state. Please keep in mind the language in the "stimulus" bill that allows the state legislature to go around the governor in accepting "stimulus" funds.

It’s been fifteen years since Republicans rode the “HillaryCare” debacle to majority status in Congress. For all its rightful criticism of a big government solution to the dysfunctional health care market, the party has subsequently failed to achieve anything resembling the consumer-driven revolution that has been its rallying cry. Meanwhile, the number of Americans without health care coverage had risen to 45.7 million as of the latest Census Bureau survey in 2007. If, as estimated by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a 1% increase in unemployment can be expected to result in 1.1 million additional uninsured, that figure could soon be...

Lovely: "He is the light and he is the way. We are all brothers and sisters in this movement. Listen to him and his spoken word. Get over the fact that we won and you lost. We are the people we have been waiting for. The thought of him gives me the goosebumps!!!"

GOP governors turn down $66M in aid for jobless. MONTGOMERY - Despite Alabama's rising jobless rate, Gov. Bob Riley on Monday rejected $66 million in the federal economic stimulus funds earmarked to help states fund unemployment benefits. Riley made the announcement after returning from a National Governors Association meeting in Washington, where he and other governors met with President Barack Obama Sunday night. An influential legislator accused Riley of playing politics, along with other Republican governors in the South. But Riley said the stimulus law requires states to change their laws to expand jobless benefits to those who don't normally...

Make that a dozen. Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon, said late last week he is giving back his legislative pay raise.That means 12 of Wisconsin's 132 lawmakers are now returning their 5.3 percent raise in the face of a record $5.9 billion state budget deficit. Davis originally told the State Journal he was going to take his pay raise and donate it to charity. Davis said feedback from constituents and a proposed 0 percent pay increase for state employees in the next two-year state budget persuaded him to return his raise to state coffers instead. "Given the conditions of the state...

Jindal Turns Down Stimulus Money for Unemployment, Dems Unable to Process Concept, Have Begun to Hallucinate, Hear Voices Posted by Anthony Sacramone on February 21, 2009 get_money The comic actor Marty Feldman is quoted as saying “Money can’t buy poverty.” He never met Congress. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal realized that if you take the fed money now, you will be stuck paying for it later. That’s the part the champions of the stimulus bill keep remembering to forget. “The federal money in this bill will run out in less than three years for this benefit and our businesses would then...

Let me first say that I am no judge of poetry. I have little knowledge of the stuff and have even less interest in it. So, for all I knew the poem that Elizabeth Alexander read during Obama's inaugural was a great one. It seemed a bit pedestrian to me, but, like I said, what do I know? As the days rolled onward after the inaugural ended more and more people in the know about poetry came out to say that Alexander's poem was a bad one. Well, apparently the poem buying public agrees with those in the know because...

Jindal rejects La.'s stimulus share Stephen Dinan February 21, 2009. Louisiana's Bobby Jindal, a Republican, became the first governor Friday to refuse officially a part of his state's share of the $787 billion stimulus bill, while President Obama warned the nation´s mayors to spend stimulus money wisely. While some governors were subtly backing off previous statements that they wouldn't take their share of the windfall, Mr. Jindal issued a statement saying Louisiana would not participate in a program aimed at expanding state unemployment insurance coverage.

Three Republican governors voiced concerns this week over acceptance of a dizzying conglomeration of bailout funding to their states from President Obama’s so-called stimulus bill, which includes a massive array of deadlines, mandates and consequences. Govs. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Rick Perry of Texas and Mark Sanford of South Carolina have all made it clear that they strongly disagree with the Obama plan to saddle taxpayers with an additional $1.2 trillion of federal loan debt and spending that has very little to do with stimulating the economy. Staffers for all three governors confirmed to HUMAN EVENTS yesterday that their experts...

WASHINGTON — Few supporters are answering President Barack Obama's call for nationwide house-party gatherings this weekend to build grass-roots support for his economic stimulus plan. A McClatchy survey of sign-up rosters for a score of cities across the country revealed only 34 committed attendees in Tacoma, Wash., as of midafternoon Friday; in Fort Worth, Texas, only 54, and in Sacramento, Calif., just 78. "Before the election, we would have had 500 to 800," said Kim Mack, 46, a Sacramento city-facility manager who's hosted house parties for political figures and causes since the mid-'90s. Even in Washington, policy-wonk capital of the...